Deliverance
by Uskius
Summary: A small moment in a hotel between Braun Strowman and Alexa Bliss that neither knew they needed.


Braun Strowman closed the door, and sighed. It had been a long day. The match had been a real test of both his strategy and endurance: it was a punishment match, pitting him against almost the entire roster. He'd won, of course, with a sort of moonsault/fall-away slam combo, smashing James Ellsworth onto Samoa Joe and pinning them both.

"Logan again, or something new?"

"Almost forgot you'd be here," Braun said, briefly smiling at Alexa Bliss. "And yeah, Logan will be alright. To be honest it's kind of a lullaby at this point."

Chuckling, Alexa looked up from her phone. "Hey. I ordered a little meal from room service just a bit ago. That mess with your post-match stuff any?"

"Nah, I get that done at the arena," Braun said, tossing his bag next to the door. The hotel wasn't the normal Marriott, but it had turned out to be as clean as the photos online, and was reasonably close to the venue. Stepping out of his Crocs, he snatched up the remote from the table between the beds and sat down onto his, swinging his legs up and on, and turning on the TV. "Thought of any angles to work for our next mixed tag?"

"Just pressuring Becky," Replied Alexa, wondering how Braun was able to focus on work so much. "Her 'fire' is her biggest thing for us to exploit- and it's getting to where we need to exploit strengths as well as weaknesses."

"Armbar lures," Braun agreed with a nod, finding Logan and starting the movie. He folded his arms behind his head and laid back, closing his eyes for a moment. The usual road fatigue was starting to get to him, and the bed felt much better than expected.

Alexa checked her Twitter one last time, then tossed her phone beside her on her bed as the movie got going. The title hunt had been slowly creeping up, threatening to reach a pace she could no longer deal with. She had been looking for a small moment to savor; even something as simple as watching Logan yet again would work. The opening scenes in El Paso put her at ease, and she glanced over at Braun: his eyes were closed, and he was silently reciting Wolverine's eyes along with the movie.

The knock caused Braun to open his eyes. Alexa motioned she would answer, and he paused the movie. He could only catch a few brief snippets of the conversation, but in any case, Alexa was soon returning with a few boxes. "I was stumped and could only think of cheese, so that's all this is." Braun scooted over, and Alexa put the boxes down on the bed between them. "Pie and cake," She added with a small smile. The large box revealed a pizza, and Braun pulled out a slice as he unpaused Logan.

"You know," Braun began, "A lot of people will argue Les Mis, but I think this is Hugh Jackman's best performance."

"You just don't like musicals."

"I haven't found the right one, yet." Braun took another bite of his pizza.

"There are a lot of great ones out there."

"Yeah, I know. It's just that the stories don't really motivate me to keep watching. A lion cub growing up? No thanks. Struggling actors in L.A.? We have YouTube for that."

"Hey: what if someone made Logan into a musical?'

"Ha! Now _that_ , I would watch." Alexa smiled and adjusted the sheets beneath her, getting settled in. As the action started to pick up on screen, the pizza was finished, she opened the small boxes, revealing two slices of cheesecake with graham cracker crust. She glanced at Braun, who was reciting lines with his eyes closed again. Next to him, his mountainous size was more noticeable than usual. It didn't make Alexa feel small, it made her feel as if she was viewing a powerful mountain in the wild.

When Braun glanced over, he saw Alexa watching Logan instead of looking at him, as he had felt. The woman had seemed a little more casual than normal when he came back to the hotel a bit ago. He wondered briefly if something was bothering her. She seemed to be missing her effortless shine, her bliss.

As Alexa looked back over, she met Braun's eyes. "Braun..." Pinching off a section of cheesecake, Alexa brought it towards Braun's face. He hesitantly opened his mouth, but Alexa went past it, and began to ease the cheesecake into his nostrils; noticing this wasn't in a playful manner like a food fight, and was more tender than platonically feeding someone a bite of food. As his nostril began to fill, a small spark of empathy and eagerness grew. "I want to give you something sweet..."

Beginning to breathe through his mouth, Braun lifted his hand to caress Alexa's face. He noticed the grease from the pizza reflecting the light from the TV. There was a breathless moment as their eyes met again, and Braun reached over and rubbed his other hand on the pizza box, collecting more of the grease. He cupped Alexa's face in his hands, working the pizza grease in gently but firmly. Alexa's mouth hung open slightly as she stared into Braun's eyes, pinching off another piece of cheesecake. "I need that in me, Alexa." She obliged him, going to his other nostril, slowly working the cheesecake in as if detailing a clay sculpture by hand.

The trepidation Alexa had felt was now gone. Braun's response had elevated her; there was no fear of heights or storms within her now. He was beginning to breath heavier, and closing his eyes, he breathed out the cheesecake with a blast. Braun gazed into Alexa's eyes, inhaling deeply. She set the cheesecake aside and slid a leg over his waist, resting her hands on his shoulders as she leaned in. Her mouth, it closed over where the cheesecake had caught in his beard, and she pulled off, leaning back up and going for the other lump. Seeing the attention Alexa paid to each crumb and glob filled up Braun's senses like a night in the forest. A quivering and warm tenderness ballooned within Braun's chest upon taking in Alexa licking her lips, and he brought her face to his, nestling his forehead against her cheeks, softly breathing into her ears as their cheeks touched and the pizza grease spread between them.

It was like a veil had been lifted. Each of them felt quite exposed and vulnerable, and yet felt a safety and assurance that tugged on their heartstrings.


End file.
